In his first few months at his first job, Arya had made some lifelong friends. Unlike many work friendships, his just happened to include a nearly three-decade age gap. It all began when Arya, a multimedia producer, decided to join a TV news company. Shy and new to the city, he looked around to see there was nobody in his age bracket except him. “Initially, it was a bit daunting,” Arya says. “But slowly, we became friends only to realize that, despite the age gap, we are all the same. That was a wonderful feeling.”

After all, as of 2024, there are four generations in the workplace - baby boomers, Gen Xers, millennials, and Gen Zs. It’s never been harder, or more essential, to forge intergenerational friendships in the workplace. There is a fascinating body of research that an ideal work friendship with someone senior can help you thrive by delivering honest assessments of how you come across on the job. Especially, without any competitive rivalry that you would otherwise experience with work friends of the same age group.  It’s never been more essential to forge intergenerational friendships in the workplace. 

On this episode of TFTY, host Akshaya Chandrasekaran brings to light stories of people who have formed deep relationships with coworkers across generations. Do you have a career question we can help you to solve? Share a note with the host at akshaya@the-ken.com or take this form and let us know. We might have you on the show! The First Two Years is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive business stories, deeply-reported newsletters, and a whole lot of stuff.